Switched Prophecies
by JevanC
Summary: What would have happened if Sirius had managed to warn James and Lily of an impending danger? What would have happened if Neville Longbottom became the boy the prophecy spoke of? This story explores what may have happened...   Rated T only for language


**Chapter 1: The boy who died**

The door to the little hovel swung open. 'Wormtail?' the visitor called. Inside, there was a little nest-like bed made of sheets and rags. The last time Sirius had come here, the watery eyed man was on the bed. His possessions had been littered around the floor. Today, there was no little man. The items, such as parchment, quills and ink, were all gone, as was the tiny holdall he had been given. There was no evidence of a struggle or a robbery. Rage filled Sirius as he thought of the horrible excuse for a man who had been used as James' secret keeper. It should have been him! He had argued for days at the change in keeper! A very dog-like snarl escaped the lips of the raging man.

He exited the hovel and slammed the door behind him. He had a decision now. Wormtail or Prongs? As he reached the edge of the wards surrounding the hideaway, he made that decision in a split second.

An old farmer was tending to one of his flock who had recently had a little lamb. He was staying with the mother and child until his wife came out to assist him here. It was as he sat calming the mother that he heard a crack like a gunshot split the night apart. This startled the lamb and he couldn't see who had fired in fear of the little lamb being hurt in the mothers fright.

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Sirius apparated straight into Godric's Hollow in front of the house of his best friend from the age of eleven. He smiled sadly at the dark haired man in the living room making puffs of light appear from the end of his wand for a little baby boy. Harry. His godson. A child's scream made Sirius turn swiftly. There he was. Voldemort looked straight at Sirius and smiled. The wand raised slowly. Sirius saw the curse form on his lips but was powerless to do anything. At least not yet. He had a plan.

The green light left the wand quicker than he expected. He dived and the curse missed him by millimetres. He did however hear it smash the living room window. He turned to see James and Harry thankfully still alive, and there was Lily. How Sirius lived those people. He would do anything for them, give his life if need be. And that is exactly what he was going to do.

'Run James! It's him! Get out of here!' James started to pick his wand up from where he had left it. He wanted to help his friend but Sirius would never let that happen. He knew without turning around that Voldemort was advancing, wand raised. 'No! Don't worry about me! Just get Harry and Lily out of here!' The last thing Sirius heard was a loud CRACK! and a cold, high scream of rage. The curse hit him and Sirius Black was no more.

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'You lied to me Severus!'

'N-no my lord, I told you all I heard!'

'All you heard! WHY NOT THE WHOLE PROPHECY! YOU TOLD ME YOU HEARD THE WHOLE THING!' A wand was now pointing to the greasy haired man cowering in fear on the floor. Pathetic cockroach. 'CRUCIO!'

Screams filled the small disgusting house this man occupied in the middle of muggle suburbia. The curse stopped and so did the screaming.

'My lord, there is another,' Severus whispered.

'Another? Who? And why did you not mention this before, when you were so adamant to save your little Lily?'

'The Longbottoms my lord. They have a son. Born on the same day as the Potter's child. You could kill him,' Severus looked up hopefully and saw a pondering expression on the face of the Dark Lord. Maybe Lily could be saved!

'I recall the name Longbottom. Didn't dear Bellatrix torture those meddlesome aurors into madness?' the Lord was now pacing back and forth through the cramped living room.

'Y-yes my lord,' the hope of Lily Evans living was now even greater. The Dark Lord laughed high and cruel before crushing Severus' heart completely.

'The Potter brat must be dealt with also of course. You will have to do it from inside the castle Severus. What good luck you got that position.'

'But my Lord, what about Albus Dumbledore?'

'He will not learn it was you,' the Lord fixed on Severus' black eyes with his own cold, red ones. 'Will he?'

'No my lord,' Severus bowed.

'Now, I must leave. I have some business to attend to. You will make plans for Harry Potter,' the man, if he could be called that went to leave but turned back to give Severus a happy piece of information. 'Oh yes, Sirius Black is, after tonight, dead.' That put a slick smirk on Severus' face. With that, the evil Lord swept out of the house.

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He felt almost exactly the same tonight as he did last night. However, the night after Halloween didn't have nearly as much impact or dramatic wow-factor he'd been hoping for last night. But, he wasn't going to wait another year for this. He gazed up at the manor house that was the home to the young Longbottom child and his grandmother. This house didn't even have a Fidelius Charm to try to break. It was too easy. He had of power and rightness as he glided along towards the ornate gate. He felt something he always felt on these momentous occasions. . . not anger. . . no, that was for weaker souls than he. . . but triumph. The gates melted, literally as he approached them and he slid over the top of the molten iron, not even disturbing it.

He walked straight to the door and raised his wand. The door blasted apart. He was now sure that the old witch would be up, but that was no matter, she would not need to die, as long as she was sensible, she had nothing to fear. He strode purposely toward the staircase at the end of the hallway. He walked up the stairs and came face-to-face with a tiny, bent over little old lady with a stern expression. Her wand was raised and she looked prepared for a fight. He laughed.

'Stand aside old woman, you need not die this day.'

I answer she just screamed at a house elf that appeared behind her, 'Wando! Grab Neville and get the hell out of here!' Then she shouted a curse at Voldemort who repelled it so quickly she was stunned. He raised his wand to the sky and uttered a small phrase of magic.

He heard the little creature say in an extremely high voice, 'Mistress! He has blocked my apparating!'

'MONSTER!' the woman screamed at him before firing off a tonne of curses at him. He reflected them all and laughed. She really was a strong witch, too bad she had backed that old fool Dumbledore, he could have used her. It was with a sigh that he pointed his wand at her and her form erupted into shreds of magical energy. He walked towards the bedroom of the now wailing baby, wanting nothing more than to shut it up.

He pushed open the door and a wall of magic hit him. It forced him to take a step back and he glared with murder in his eyes, looking for the cause. He noticed the elf standing with a very large child clutched in its left hand while its right was facing him, palm out. He raised his wand for the last time that night and both the elf and child fell to the floor, dead. He was gone before they hit the floor.


End file.
